Thousands of Iraqis are fleeing the country every day in a “steady, silent exodus” and a spike in sectarian violence has stopped others from returning to their homeland, the U.N. refugee agency said on Friday.More than 50,000 exiled Iraqis returned from neighboring countries last year in the hope that calm might return after the country’s first post-war elections in January 2005.That number has fallen to 1,000 this year. “Far more are leaving,” Ron Redmond, chief spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told a news briefing in Geneva.“Many of them are moving on to other countries in what could be termed a steady, silent exodus.”... http://www.msnbc.msn.com

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wants the Israeli government to explain restrictions on Palestinian-Americans traveling on U.S. passports in Israel and the Palestinian territories, the State Department said yesterday. "This was brought to the attention of the secretary, and it's something that she's looking into and she's going to raise with Israeli officials," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters. "There is more than a handful of these cases, and it's something that has got our attention. Talking about American citizens here." Miss Rice raised the issue in a speech to the American Task Force on Palestine on Wednesday evening. "I realize that the continuing problems of security are also a great challenge for many Palestinian-Americans living in Gaza and the West Bank -- and for so many others, including many of you, who travel there often, who work for greater tolerance and understanding, and ...http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20061012-113901-2951r.htm

Four people, two of them young children, were found shot to death Friday along an isolated stretch of Florida's Turnpike with obvious tire tracks nearby, authorities said.Florida Highway Patrol troopers got a call shortly before 8 a.m. after someone spotted the bodies of a man, woman, boy and girl on the southbound shoulder of the highway, the St. Lucie County sheriff's office said in a statement.Sheriff Ken Mascara said the adults were both in their 20s or 30s, and the children appeared to be between the ages of 4 and 6. All had been shot multiple times, he said. No vehicle was found near the bodies, but there were tire tracks nearby, Mascara said....http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/13/florida.bodies.ap/index.html?section=cnn_us

South Africa's state broadcaster was guilty of barring six prominent government critics from the airwaves, a leaked report says. The report said the exclusions were "indefensible" and singled out head of news Snuki Zikalala for His "inappropriate" interventions. SABC itself commissioned the report but has not released its findings in full. SABC's chief executive Dali Mpofu said the report vindicated his position that there was no blacklist. 'Restricted views' Although SABC has released only a summary of the report's findings, the Mail & Guardian newspaper obtained a full copy and has published lengthy excerpts. The report into whether SABC guidelines had been broken was commissioned after accusations that Mr Zikalala barred certain political analysts from news and current affairs programmes. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6047788.stm

The US government has rebuffed UK calls to close its controversial detention centre at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The UK foreign minister said it was unacceptable on human rights grounds and ineffective in fighting terrorism. But a US spokesman said the camp was needed to house "some very dangerous people", including those who were behind the 9/11 attacks. Meanwhile fresh allegations of abuse of inmates by US prison guards at the camp have emerged. Marine Sgt Heather Cerveny, who went to the base three weeks ago as a legal aide to a military lawyer, said five navy guards described in detail how they beat up detainees. "The one sailor specifically said 'I took the detainee by the head and smashed his head into the cell door'," she said in an affidavit. The BBC's James Westhead, in Washington, says the allegations are significant because they come from a serving member of the US military. Sgt Cerveny has reported the matter to the military's inspector general, who is ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6046684.stm

A coroner has recorded a verdict of unlawful killing on ITN reporter Terry Lloyd, who was shot dead by US forces in southern Iraq in March 2003. An inquest heard Mr Lloyd was killed by a US bullet near Basra. His interpreter died and his cameraman is missing. It was told Mr Lloyd, 50 and originally from Derby, was hit while in a makeshift ambulance, having already been hurt by American-Iraqi crossfire. The coroner is to ask the attorney general to consider pressing charges. Oxfordshire Assistant Deputy Coroner Andrew Walker said he would also be writing to the director of public prosecutions asking for him to investigate the possibility of bringing charges. The Pentagon denied ever targeting non-combatants, including journalists. Mr Lloyd's Lebanese interpreter, Hussein Osman, was also killed and French cameraman Fred Nerac is still officially classed as missing, presumed dead. Belgian cameraman Daniel Demoustier was the ITN crew's only survivor. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6046950.stm